A 74-Year-Old Former Red Brigades Member Escapes House Arrest in Buenos Aires: He Had Pleaded Three Strokes and Poor Mobility Against Extradition, Then Rappelled From the Fifth Floor
The Associated Press reported on November 11 that Leonardo Bertulazzi, 74, a former senior member of Italy's far-left Red Brigades, escaped from house arrest in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the morning of November 10 and is being hunted by police. He had been awaiting extradition to Italy to serve a 27-year sentence.
Bertulazzi fled Italy in 1980 and lived in Argentina for years, receiving refugee status in 2004; the status was revoked under President Milei and he was re-arrested in August 2024. Argentina's Supreme Court rejected his final appeal and extradition was approved in July 2025. His 27-year Italian sentence stems from a 1987 conviction on subversive and armed-group offences, linked to the kidnapping of Pietro Costa.
According to investigators quoted by the Argentine daily La Nación, Bertulazzi removed his ankle monitor and placed it in a tube of pork, with a thermal blanket, grease and a blood-pressure and temperature device to fake body readings; he then used a rope and harness to rappel from his fifth-floor flat to a neighbouring second-floor terrace, crossed a vacant lot and climbed a metal gate to the street. CCTV footage shows him sitting down to rest at 6:01 a.m.
The irony noted by investigators is that his lawyer had opposed extradition on health grounds, citing three strokes and difficulty walking. Argentina's Security Ministry has offered a reward of 20 million pesos (about $13,000) for information on his whereabouts.
(Source: Associated Press)
Source: Associated Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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